Holiday Staircase Garland

Almost every year since the mid-90's, I have been hanging and decorating a holiday garland on my staircase and in recent years on my mantle as well.  This is a favorite of visitors and finally I remembered to film the process. The process video is below.

My Mother started me on this.  She did the initial shopping and purchased my artificial garland.  I've added and changed ornaments and ribbon over the years.  We've learned a few things about shopping for Christmas decorations over the years. Here are a few tips:

• Scout the stores weeks before Christmas to see who has the kind of decorations you would like to purchase.  Some stories like Hobby Lobby will run discounts throughout the season but many will wait until just before Christmas to start markdowns.  Stores that carry these items as seasonal decorations will have the best sales as they need to move the product out.
• Recheck with your favorite stores the week before Christmas to start collecting.  When we first started we always had to wait until the day after Christmas to get bargains, but many stores start marking down earlier now.
• Choose a color scheme of no more than 3 colors.  I use gold, burgundy/dark red, and light green. I've changed schemes over the years.  Originally it was gold, red and white.
• Buy 3 or more of one type of ornament.  Odd numbers work best in decorating though you may find even numbers of ornaments that come in a box.
• Select ornaments of all shapes and sizes.  Choose decorations where you don't have to get super close to see the detail.  You and your guests will appreciate your garland from a distance.
• Fill in with some florist pieces.
• Have florist wire on hand to hang ornaments and secure ones that need a little extra hold.
• Choose special large pieces for the newel posts on your stairway.  This is an area I change up every few years as I only have to change 2 or 3 pieces to have a fresh look.

Most of my ornaments came from department stores and the Christmas shop at our now closed Ace Hardware store.  All of us in the area mourned the loss of that great store particularly for holiday decorations.  I also bought quite a few decorations of Martha Stewart for Kmart.  I don't know if she still does decorations for them or not, but they were always beautiful and reasonably priced.

A couple of disclaimers on the video.  This is the first video I have made using a regular tripod.  My husband was tied up so I did it all myself as you can probably guess.  The lightening is a little brigher than I would have liked.  A cloudy day would be best but, unfortunately, there isn't a cloud in the forecast for days.  I would appreciate any constructive feedback you have.  Thanks!

Here's the process video:

Thanks for watching!  I'm planning to decorate my mantle this weekend so perhaps I'll get that one filmed as well.